Monday, April 19, 2010

Radiators and Oil

My car is a large hunk of junk. But in a few months, it will be all mine.

In February, I had a bunch of repairs done on it. I spent over $1000 on brakes, wheel hubs and wheel bearings as well as some other stuff. Then recently, I noticed the car running a little hot. It overheated. I stopped driving it and went back to driving David’s truck. The Chrysler dealership said I needed a new radiator. They wanted to charge me near $1000 for a radiator. I said no thanks.

I left it in the garage to wait until I could afford the repair. I drove David’s truck and worked a ton of overtime. But before I could get paid, David’s truck broke. I ended up renting a car last week on Monday. My brother’s wife, Nicole, found us a place that could do a new radiator for just over $300. So we had it towed over there Tuesday. The mechanic is the first one that ever didn’t make me feel I was being ripped off. His name is Javier. Nicole was going to lend me the money to get the radiator so I could have my car back. I got paid today.

But when Javier got it, he found the radiator to be fine. He found some major engine problems. He started talking about replacing the engine. I freaked out. He said he would start calling around and get me a price. But when he called me the next morning, he asked me if he could take it for a second opinion. I agreed. He called me and found that it looks like it can be repaired. It is still expensive and we won’t know for sure until later this week.

David’s truck is still not working. It seems to have a starter problem and it definitely has an oil leak. David’s dad gave him the money to fix it up, so we are going to ask Javier to give us an estimate. Hopefully by the end of the week we have two working cars.

Until then, I am still renting this Dodge. It is small and funny. It is costing me an arm and a leg until then, but at least I can get to work and get the girls to schools and practices. And it looks like more overtime for me. I worked five 16 hour days last pay period. I only got paid for two due to clerical error. I will get the other three on my next paycheck in two weeks. It sucks because we could really have used that money now. I have already worked one extra shift this week, with plans to do at least a couple more. So don’t expect much from me until all of this is taken care of. I will be in prison.

4 comments:

They keep telling me my car needs work, too. Nothing that will make it quit running right away, just an oil seal that will cost $600.00 to replace. And last time the mentioned something else, too. I wasn't listening. lol My car isn't worth $600.00, but I really can't afford a new one! Hope Javier gets you going again and no more problems.